Classical in Audiofile

So I'm trying to overhaul and streamline our classical collection. It has been suggested, and I think it's a good suggestion, that we could completely get rid of some composers we have in our list. We want composers that share the metal spirit. Going through this list, who does not belong? I am a little out of my league here and I think we have other members that are better versed in classical than I. I go through the list and see the following keepers:Bach, J.S.BeethovenBrahmsBrucknerCorelliGriegHaydnHolstMozartPaganiniRespighiSaint-SaensScarlattiSchubertSchumannVivaldiWagner

So we can go about this two ways, we can either decide who does not belong from our existing list, or you can tell me who I have left out of my list above. I am tempted to opt for the latter and go in with extreme prejudice and slash and burn all but the essential. 3 reasons: 1 - A pared down list is less intimidating to a novice. 2 - We want to emphasize the connections between metal and classical. 3 - So many dead links.

I am sure there are some composers that I've left out so help me fill in the list.

And by the by for new uploads I implore you to use SendItz. It asks for a "friend's email address" but I've just been using two of my own differing email addresses and it's worked just fine. http://senditz.com/

No one in that list is bad, although I don't know Scarlatti. If anything, let's expand. The real problem is not many people have classical music collections beyond the introductory stuff, and that often metalheads are not motivated that much to expand.

A sticky topic with house recommendations for people new to Classical would be nice regardless of what composers we include on the list.

Composers could be grouped in periods and geographically, e.g. 'French Baroque'. This simplifies the list but can include gems like the works of Marais and Lully's Te Deum. We already do this with the Early/Medieval music.

Some great composers have only few 'essential' pieces, like Buxtehude. If he doesn't warrant a thread of his own, we could also group him with Bach, whom he directly influenced. Just an example.

I wouldn't want to exclude Debussy at any rate.Scarlatti would be Domenico (not Alessandro). His sonatas are excellent.

If the concern is uploading the best stuff (since outlets like mediafire and so on get downed often), then it would also be good to restrict to the basics / best of. The majority of Bruckner is unnecessary, same with Grieg, Paganini, Respighi too. Would be happy to draft a more detailed list of what I'm talking about upon request.

You'll want to keep Mahler and Shostakovich since we're relating classical music to metal. Maybe scrap Saint-Saens, and I haven't heard Respighi or Scarlatti yet so I couldn't say. And should anyone in the serialism category be kept?

I think "Organ" is fairly listenable, especially if you're a fan of Schubert. However, what else by him is worth going out of the way for? His piano concerti are pretty much par for the course when it comes to the genre, and nothing worth saving from what I remember. Thought it was worth mentioning given the OP was about paring down to the essentials.

Consider: there are quite a few (stylistically conservative) romantic (as well as renaissance, baroque, classical, etc.) composers with at least one noteworthy bigger-scale work. Perhaps adding that symphony to a genre or period-type thread mentioned above ("baroque" or "classical symphony"). This format could be a good fit for the board anyway, since it's not about getting in 50 different versions of every known recorded piece by a composer. Monolithic composers would be left to their own thread. It would also allow for a few stylistic pieces that are relevant but not worthy of too much attention (certain medieval, renaissance, early baroque, and modern pieces).

Let's move in the direction of adding Debussy and Ravel rather than losing Saint-Saens. I listed 17 composers, and I believe I currently count 59 on our index. Just for sake of conservation and so I can continue to turn the wheels in my head, who would the next 17 keepers be? Debussy, Ravel, Mahler, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff...Chopin? Liszt? Bartok? Handel?

We don't want to disallow or discourage any uploads but I do want to re-organize and get rid of dead weight. So I should also add that if you have made uploads or started threads with now dead links, if you were to go back in and add live links, this would go a long way in keeping the thread from getting the axe. This goes for lesser metal artists as well.